The secondary impact of mining on primates and other medium to large mammals in forest reserves in southwestern Ghana

Owusu, Erasmus H.; Ofori, Benjamin Y.; Attuquayefio, Daniel K.

doi:10.1016/j.exis.2017.11.007

Cited by 14 publications

(15 citation statements)

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“…Walking censuses were conducted along randomly selected transects (trails, footpaths and other access routes) and direct and indirect observations of mammals were recorded. Direct observation was made with the aid of binoculars, 17,18 while evidence of tracks, scats, burrows, scratches, feeds, beds, calls were considered indirect observation. Indirect evidences are very useful when surveying animals that are naturally rare, elusive, found at low densities and difficult to capture repeatedly.…”

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Evidence of illegal activities and recent human disturbances such as charcoal production, hunting, farming and logging activities in the area were also anecdotally recorded. 3,18 Similarly, local people were anecdotally interviewed on the species present and their thought on the threats and conservation of the study site and its mammals. Interview questions were supported with field guide photos and illustrations to ease the difficulty and extract reliable information from the informants.…”

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Survey of large and medium-sized mammals in Wabe forest fragments, Gurage zone, Ethiopia

Legese¹,

Bekele²,

Kiros³

2019

IJAWB

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Mammal inventories are essential tools to effectively direct conservation strategies and management practices. A survey of large and medium-sized mammals was conducted in Wabe Forest fragments near to Wolkite town of Ethiopia to assess their diversity and abundance in the area and to determine their major threats. Transect method and anecdotal interviews were used to collect data for the study. A total of 12 mammal species belonging to seven orders and seven families were recorded by direct and indirect evidences. Porcupine (Hystrix cristata), honey badger (Mellivera capensis), vervet monkey (Chlorocebus aethiops), olive baboon (Papio anubis), and colobus guereza (Colobus guereza) were among the medium-sized mammals, and spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta), aardvark (Oryctropus afer), bohor reedbuck (Redunca redunca), Oribi (Ourebia ourebi) and common duiker (Sylvicapra grimmia) were the large mammals of the study area. Vervet monkey (C. aethiops) was the dominant species followed by guereza (Colobus guereza), whereas common duiker (S. grimmia), spotted hyena (C. crocuta) and bush pig (Pontamochoreus larvatus) were less common. Mammals were recorded in low population number in the study area. Simpson's Similarity Index (SI) showed a considerable overlap of species between the natural forest and scrubland habitats (0.58%) with reference to species composition. Field observation and interviews indicated illegal logging of trees for fuel wood and charcoal production, domestic dogs, road construction and extraction of construction materials, and agricultural land expansion were the main anthropogenic threats in the area. The study area harbors considerable mammals that are threatened by interacting anthropogenic factors. Urgent conservation program is needed to safeguard these animals.

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Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Survey of large and medium-sized mammals in Wabe forest fragments, Gurage zone, Ethiopia

Legese¹,

Bekele²,

Kiros³

2019

IJAWB

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“…In the Philippines, mining of gold, nickel, and copper on Dingaan Island has endangered the survival of tarsiers (Carlito syrichta) (Brown et al, 2014). In Ghana, mining-induced hunting and logging have caused the decline of primates such as the Dwarf galago (Galagoides demidoff), Bosman's potto (Perodicticus potto), and the Mona monkey (Cercopithecus mona) in forest reserves adjoining mine sites (Erasmus et al, 2018). Gold mining in Indonesia is a major threat to the Endangered proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus) (Meijaard & Nijman, 2000) and to Bornean orangutans and the Endangered Bornean gibbons (Hylobates muelleri) (Garcia et al, 2017;Lanjouw, 2014).…”

Section: Metals and Mineralsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Expanding global commodities trade and consumption place the world’s primates at risk of extinction

Estrada

Garber

Chaudhary

2019

PeerJ

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As a consequence of recent human activities. populations of approximately 75% of the world’s primates are in decline, and more than 60% of species (n = 512) are threatened with extinction. Major anthropogenic pressures on primate persistence include the widespread loss and degradation of natural habitats caused by the expansion of industrial agriculture, pastureland for cattle, logging, mining, and fossil fuel extraction. This is the result of growing global market demands for agricultural and nonagricultural commodities. Here, we profile the effects of international trade of forest-risk agricultural and nonagricultural commodities, namely soybean, oil palm, natural rubber, beef, forestry products, fossil fuels, metals, minerals, and gemstones on habitat conversion in the Neotropics, Africa, and South and Southeast Asia. Total estimated forest loss for these regions between 2001 and 2017 was ca 179 million ha. The average percent of commodity-driven permanent deforestation for the period 2001–2015 was highest in Southeast Asia (47%) followed by the Neotropics (26%), South Asia (26%), and Africa (7%). Commodities exports increased significantly between 2000 and 2016 in all primate range regions leading to the widespread conversion of forested land to agricultural fields and an increase in natural resource extraction. In 2016, US $1.1 trillion of natural-resource commodities were traded by countries in primate range regions. The Neotropics accounted for 41% of the total value of these exports, Southeast Asia for 27%, Africa 21%, and South Asia 11%. Major commodity exporters in 2016 were Brazil, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and South Africa, countries of high primate diversity and endemism. Among the top 10 importers were China, the US, Japan, and Switzerland. Primate range countries lag far behind importer nations in food security and gross domestic product per capita, suggesting that trade and commodity-driven land-use have done little to generate wealth and well-being in primate habitat countries. Modeling of land-use and projected extinction of primate species by 2050 and 2100 under a business as usual scenario for 61 primate range countries indicate that each country is expected to see a significant increase in the number of species threatened with extinction. To mitigate this impending crisis, we advocate the “greening” of trade, a global shift toward a low-meat diet, reduced consumption of oil seed, diminished use of tropical timber, fossil fuels, metals, minerals, and gemstones from the tropics, accompanied by a stronger and sustained global resolve to regulate and reverse the negative impacts of growing unsustainable global demands and commodity trade on income inequality, and the destruction of primates and their habitats.

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“…artisanal and small-scale mining, Burma, conservation, enforcement, gold mining, informal gold mining, livelihood-based approaches, Myanmar 1 | INTRODUCTION Gold mining has driven deforestation (Alvarez-Berríos & Aide, 2015), soil erosion (Mol & Ouboter, 2003), and mercury pollution (Kumar, Divoll, Ganguli, Trama, & Lamborg, 2018). It has also increased hunting due to migration to mining sites (Owusu, Ofori, & Attuquayefio, 2018). An estimated 16 million people practiced artisanal and small-scale mining in 2011 (Seccatore, Veiga, Origliasso, Marin, & De Tomi, 2014), and many of these operated informally, that is, outside legal frameworks (Sousa et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gold, farms, and forests: Enforcement and alternative livelihoods are unlikely to disincentivize informal gold mining

Prescott

Maung

Aung

et al. 2020

Conservat Sci and Prac

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Informal gold mining (IGM) is a major driver of deforestation and source of global mercury emissions. Policy makers may seek to control the spread of IGM by enforcing rules and/or providing alternative livelihoods. We investigated the dynamics and drivers of IGM in northern Myanmar to shed light on the conditions needed for alternative livelihood and enforcement interventions to succeed. We surveyed 226 respondents who practiced mining and/or farming. We found that mining and agriculture provided complementary livelihoods for many respondents as they met different livelihood needs, and that many of the miners were economic migrants. Livelihood‐based interventions based on agriculture/plantations—as currently planned by the regional government—are thus unlikely to provide true substitutes. The willingness of migrant miners to move under different economic circumstances suggests that livelihood‐based interventions are unlikely to scale well—mining may simply be displaced to other regions, or new migrants might replace old migrants. We estimated that current enforcement efforts were insufficient and that a much higher level of enforcement—either constant presence of enforcement officials at each informal mining site, or confiscating equipment every month—would be required to make informal mining unprofitable. Enforcement effectiveness was further undermined by corruption in the guise of informal payments to local authorities. Our study is the first to estimate costs that enforcement imposes and the level of enforcement required to deter informal gold mining, and adds to the growing body of evidence that enforcement and alternative livelihood approaches alone are unlikely to deter informal gold mining.

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The secondary impact of mining on primates and other medium to large mammals in forest reserves in southwestern Ghana

Cited by 14 publications

References 58 publications

A Survey of large and medium-sized mammals in Wabe forest fragments, Gurage zone, Ethiopia

A Survey of large and medium-sized mammals in Wabe forest fragments, Gurage zone, Ethiopia

Expanding global commodities trade and consumption place the world’s primates at risk of extinction

Gold, farms, and forests: Enforcement and alternative livelihoods are unlikely to disincentivize informal gold mining

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